Artificial Intelligence In Our Lives

[Huntn]

AI should be to improve our lives, not replace our livelihoods.

Fans Blame AI As Disney Decimates Marvel Studios Art Teams

Disney's latest wave of firings reportedly hit Marvel Studios' visual departments the hardest, resulting in speculation that AI is to blame

kotaku.com

 

[ejb190]

My workplace released Microsoft Copilot for us to use. Most of my group have no use for it. But to their credit, there has been a small, but vocial community of folks who have banded together to figure out how they can use this tool and share their results. Not everything has been a success, but there's been enough positives to keep interest up.

In my world, I see places where AI can improve efficiency, but I don't see it replacing jobs - at least yet.

 

[ClaraStahlbaum]

I admit that I use ChatGPT and Grok regularly. They help with basic tasks, other than that, I try to avoid AI.

 

[rhett7660]

AI should be to improve our lives, not replace our livelihoods.

Fans Blame AI As Disney Decimates Marvel Studios Art Teams

Disney's latest wave of firings reportedly hit Marvel Studios' visual departments the hardest, resulting in speculation that AI is to blame

kotaku.com

View attachment 2628904

Yeah... AI won't do your laundry or dishes... LOL... that is called a maid or housekeeper, or what ever you want to call someone you pay to do those things.

I use AI all day long, especially when I am stuck on something. ChatGPT... and then I fine tune it to meet my needs.

 

[eyoungren]

My former employer is using AI to compensate for both a lack of employees to do a particular job as well as not having enough time to do that job.

The one employee the company had left for this job was asked to add my duties to his own. That would have left the company free to reduce my hours while they migrated my work to a different platform. He refused and quit. So, they recalled me to the office and added HIS duties to mine.

They fully expected me to use AI tools on the new platform to compensate for lack of time to do both jobs, while expecting me to train another person to take over the duties I was originally hired for.

They sought to replace me with another designer when they discovered that my skills for which I was hired, are not what they needed for this particular work. Last I heard they expected the new designer to also do my duties and, again for AI to compensate for the lack of time. I tendered my resignation.

All of this to make things so that only one designer was necessary to do two kinds of work.

My issue with AI is not that it will replace jobs, it is that employers will use it to push additional duties upon the already overworked. If you have one person who, through the use of AI, can do multiple tasks that are not necessarily all related, then you can get away with paying them far less than what you'd pay for all the other workers combined.

Eventually the last person standing will be the guy who just knows what buttons to push and what scripts/code to execute that cranks out product. Creativity, design and care will be gone and all the products will look the same.

 

[eyoungren]

I use AI all day long, especially when I am stuck on something. ChatGPT... and then I fine tune it to meet my needs.

My former employer decided to integrate AI into graphic design. Now, what was once individual product for a multitude of golf courses, is AI generated content that follows a template. Aside from the art, the fonts, and a few other bits there is no difference in what customer A gets and what customer B gets. It's all generic AI generated content now.

Sooner or later these muti-million dollar golf courses are going to realize that they've paid a lot of money to look exactly the same as their competitors. But I won't be there.

I don't have a problem with AI in the workplace. I just have a problem with employers using it to cut corners.

 

[maflynn]

I use claud ai and chatgpt, for lots of things. For instance, I need instructions to configure or install something Linux, but googling didn't provide the results I hoped for. I also use AI to help write content, be it posts here, or emails for work. Fun parts is to have AI generate images,m both funny and pretty amazing.

 

[Huntn]

My workplace released Microsoft Copilot for us to use. Most of my group have no use for it. But to their credit, there has been a small, but vocial community of folks who have banded together to figure out how they can use this tool and share their results. Not everything has been a success, but there's been enough positives to keep interest up.

In my world, I see places where AI can improve efficiency, but I don't see it replacing jobs - at least yet.

Capitalism is based on a premise, if not a premise, an expectation of continuous expansion, that is faulty. In the 1990s I read that 75% of the jobs could be done with automation if companies could and wanted to afford the cost. Look at the historical trend of automation in car manufacturing as compared to human employment since the 50s.

Machines are not paid, they have no social needs, require no rest. Corporations love them. The problem is in a society that is built on profits, and a multitude corporate entities competing with one another, humans are expendible and subject to being disenfranchised at the business needs of the corporation. AI is just part of the automation trend of disenfranchising their workers. Sure, it’s there to help at a price to the work force.

 

[Huntn]

Yeah... AI won't do your laundry or dishes... LOL... that is called a maid or housekeeper, or what ever you want to call someone you pay to do those things.

I use AI all day long, especially when I am stuck on something. ChatGPT... and then I fine tune it to meet my needs.

AI is an integral part of automation that eventually will do your laundry and clean your house. The point is that it will be used to replace human skills, it should be used imo to reduce human drudgery as mush as to disenfranchise highly skilled workers, and have a system that provides a viable path for disenfranchised workers, which does not currently exist.

 

[chaosbunny]

Capitalism is based on a premise, continuous expansion, that is faulty. In the 1990s I read that 75% of the jobs could be done with automation if companies could and wanted to afford the cost. Look at the historical trend of automation in car manufacturing as compared to human employment since the 50s.

Machines are not paid, they have no social needs, require no rest. Corporations love them. The problem is in a society that is built on profits, and a multitude corporate entities competing with one another, humans are expendible and subject to being disenfranchised at the business needs of the corporation. AI is just part of the automation trend of disenfranchising their workers. Sure, it’s there to help at a price to the work force.

People I know personally and also most comments in forums I read are against AI. Recently I started wondering, if something is pushed onto us, that most people don't want and that makes no profit, is that even still capitalism?

 

[Mrbobb]

AI is great until they put the giant data center in your backyard.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I use it for various tasks at work. Others use it more.
Some think it’s the answer to everything. Trouble is it’s often wrong or is only as good as the data it’s given.

Take my main role. Purchasing. Yes it can analyse data etc. but it doesn’t know that sales have dropped off on product A because a rival company has launched a better/lower cost alternative.
Or twenty other variables I know that AI doesn’t.

Generally our company policy is (unofficially) if someone leaves AI can plug the gap.
But it’s already getting unsustainable imho.

 

[rhett7660]

AI is an integral part of automation that eventually will do your laundry and clean your house. The point is that it will be used to replace human skills, it should be used imo to reduce human drudgery as mush as to disenfranchise highly skilled workers, and have a system that provides a viable path for disenfranchised workers, which does not currently exist.

HAHAH... I don't know if AI will do my laundry. Maybe if we are talking about, oh you put shorts, a delicate blouse, and pants in the washer, you will need to XYZ... that I could see. I mean we already have "smart" washers. So I can see that part of it. If that is what you mean. I was thinking more along the lines from you put it in your dirty clothes hamper and from there "things" happen.

I mean lets all say what is on our minds... A lot of folks don't like AI. Period. Artists, writers, analysists etc, as they ALL feel it will eventually take their jobs. I mean we are already seeing it in some areas.

I don't think it is going away either... I think we will see a consolidation soon, but the genie is out of the bottle, and judging by how many folks are using it and running things through it, it is a very popular "thing" right now...

 

[Mousse]

People I know personally and also most comments in forums I read are against AI.

We don't like AI in it's current state. Once AI can give answers that's highly accurate (95% or better), then I'd trust it for trivial stuff. Now AI is more miss than hit. Would you trust a car that only goes a random direction when you turn right 70% of the time? When I turn the steering wheel right, I expect the car to turn right 100% of the time.
In it's current state, AI would pass off the Ingsoc statement 2 + 2 = 5 as truth.

 

[eyoungren]

Capitalism is based on a premise, continuous expansion, that is faulty. In the 1990s I read that 75% of the jobs could be done with automation if companies could and wanted to afford the cost. Look at the historical trend of automation in car manufacturing as compared to human employment since the 50s.

Machines are not paid, they have no social needs, require no rest. Corporations love them. The problem is in a society that is built on profits, and a multitude corporate entities competing with one another, humans are expendible and subject to being disenfranchised at the business needs of the corporation. AI is just part of the automation trend of disenfranchising their workers. Sure, it’s there to help at a price to the work force.

I wonder…when humans are completely replaced by automation/AI and therefore lose the financial means to afford and purchase products that are for sale, at what point does business fail? And what is the reaction?

Someone might suggest that, oh you'll find a different job. Where? If everything is replaced by AI, what jobs are available for humans? And at what level of pay?

I am reminded of the Twilight Zone episode where ultimately the CEO of a corporation is replaced by the same robot that he replaced all his workers with.

 

[Huntn]

People I know personally and also most comments in forums I read are against AI. Recently I started wondering, if something is pushed onto us, that most people don't want and that makes no profit, is that even still capitalism?

Since this thread is still here, I'll warn any newcomers to leave politics out of this discussion as per forum rules.

My point in starting this thread, AI= the latest iteration of automation, this should be a good thing, as long as our system is set up to benefit the common good, not allow fiscal gluttons/predators to take advantage of us. I believe, that capitalism could work as long as safe guards are placed on it, things such as giving priority to education/training, an affordable cost of living for basically everyone, wealth caps, environmental protection, quality of life provisions, etc.
Capitalism- naturally those with $$$ don't want to pay for those with none or little. It really takes a mind reset, of our place on the planet and taking care of one another, not taking advantage of each other.

Capitalism, "the accruing of capital", we are seeing exactly how this goes. Over time a smaller and smaller group of people become extremely wealthy, and the majority are slowly disenfranchised. Of course the issue is business, large number of citizens being assimilated into the captalist mind set, dependent on it, while simo being victims of it.

Why are there x-number of competing data centers sucking up natural resources? Because instead of a coordinated effort for the common good, this is a for-profit enterprise, with a winner trying to beat the other competitors. Leadership in our communities, embrace big business regardless, money talks. A common thought associated: "as long as someone else is the one disenfranchised*, well, then they chose poorly."

*example: jobs exported.

 

[turbineseaplane]

If it’s really going to come in and take over countless jobs in all sorts of industries, there simply has to be a societal reckoning with that in terms of how the gains from AI are distributed.

Absent that I want no part of it because I’m going to be on the losing end eventually… we all are.

If you’re using it now to your benefit, just wait, it will eventually come for you and your interests and livelihood one way or another.

 

[Huntn]

HAHAH... I don't know if AI will do my laundry. Maybe if we are talking about, oh you put shorts, a delicate blouse, and pants in the washer, you will need to XYZ... that I could see. I mean we already have "smart" washers. So I can see that part of it. If that is what you mean. I was thinking more along the lines from you put it in your dirty clothes hamper and from there "things" happen.

I mean lets all say what is on our minds... A lot of folks don't like AI. Period. Artists, writers, analysists etc, as they ALL feel it will eventually take their jobs. I mean we are already seeing it in some areas.

I don't think it is going away either... I think we will see a consolidation soon, but the genie is out of the bottle, and judging by how many folks are using it and running things through it, it is a very popular "thing" right now...

Your all purpose android will do you laundry for you, besides entertaining you in a variety of ways, silly. 😉 Technological advancement might be considered part of The Great Filter, the challenge we have to navigate to become a star faring species. 8 billion humans, most of who need to "earn" a living. We may have already proven that endless expansion will not cover lost jobs in any sort of a routine, or planned system, made to transition people into new areas as needed with comfort, not under calamity. We might even have to keep out number under control. 🤔

 

[splifingate]

You can mash your finger just-as-well with a skid-loader as you can with a hammer.

I'm on the front-lines of resisting the LLM Movement (and here is absolutely no LLM agent that could take my place), but it's rather scary...so much can be automated, and I could easily craft some additional free-time...yet I resist (well into the evening).

No rider should take a steed as-granted....

 

[Huntn]

I wonder…when humans are completely replaced by automation/AI and therefore lose the financial means to afford and purchase products that are for sale, at what point does business fail? And what is the reaction?

Someone might suggest that, oh you'll find a different job. Where? If everything is replaced by AI, what jobs are available for humans? And at what level of pay?

I am reminded of the Twilight Zone where ultimately the CEO of a corporation is replaced by the same robot that he replaced all his workers with.

EXACTLY, and typically companies when they decide to ship your jobs out, will give you a little parting gift, and then expect you to get out of their hair. They see no responsibility, "just a business decision, based on market conditions, and our business model." It seems to me we need leadership that we the sheep 😉 pick, that prioritizes our citizens (all of them) over these entities, acknowledge that technological growing pains. are part of the equation, must be part of the big picture and that the engines of industry will pay their fair* share of these costs.

* Fair in the eyes of normal average humans, not billionaires or even multi-millionaires.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The problem is that AI threatens to privatize the gains while externalizing all costs and downsides onto and at the expense of non-shareholders, which is “all of human society”.

This is a kind of problem we have never had before and it’s going to require solutions have never tried before.

 

[eyoungren]

…and that the engines of industry will pay their fair* share of these costs.

* Fair in the eyes of normal average humans, not billionaires or even multi-millionaires.

This will never happen until those same engines of industry abandon the viewpoint of meritocracy. Which is to say, never. Because from where they sit, they are part of the deserving. The rest are not deserving and are 'other' - and therefore of no consequence.

 

[Mainsail]

Recently, I was working with a couple of guys to troubleshoot a pesky battery charging problem on a sailboat. I have an Engineering background, and the other two guys are in sales and marketing. And, none of us are particularly good with marine electronics. Anyway, it was one of those strange intermittent charging issues that seemed to shift between battery banks. To work through the problem, one guy asked AI questions while the two of us checked contacts and continuity. In about 45 minutes, we figured out that it was a bad in-line fuse on a grounding wire. If we had to call a marine electronics tech, it would have cost $500++ and might not have been resolved. What impressed me was how the guy asking AI questions was so natural in his queries. He had almost zero electronics background, but he really knew how to use the tool.

When we were done, the three of us were kind of surprised at how well it worked and how effective AI was at diagnosing the problem. The guy asking AI questions during the troubleshooting said, "I am not concerned about AI taking my job, but I am concerned about a person taking my job who is better than me at using AI." It was an interesting point.

BTW - For those that think blue collar workers are immune from AI disruption, this is an example of a $500++ job that an electronics tech did not get because of AI.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I may be in the minority here but, I see AI (as a whole) as a detriment to self-initiative and intellectualism. I see it devolving interpersonal relationships much worse than social media already has. All of this is encouraging people to be mindlessly lazy. Some will rebuttal with AI can save you time. My retort to that is if the time saved removes emotion, cognitive awareness, initiative, and inspiration, more than seconds and moments have been lost. The road ahead for society does not look good at all, in my opinion.

No more handwritten letters
Phone calls have predominantly been replaced by texts filled with emojis, and meaningless tripe like LOL, OMG, and other brainless acronyms.
Society has become addicted to meaningless drivel and it makes me sad that so many crave it more than sharing and caring with others in meaningful ways like we did 15 years ago.

 

[redheeler]

The problem is that AI threatens to privatize the gains while externalizing all costs and downsides onto and at the expense of non-shareholders, which is “all of human society”.

This is a kind of problem we have never had before and it’s going to require solutions have never tried before.

This is very much a kind of problem we've had before. It's called industrialization or automation and it always works like this.